| Due to the seemingly endless drought Australia is suffering under, Victorian turf managers have started to examine other options, such as installing warm season grasses where cool season used to dominate. However, this process can be quite costly and initially use quite a bit of water. Robert Sundblom of the City of Monash speaks to Golf and Sports Turf Magazine about his experience in making warm season grasses work in cooler climates….
With the drought devastating Victoria, our ability to use waster for establishment of grass is quite limited. It is therefore time for all turf managers to set in motion a different plan.
Traditionally, turf managers would wait until November or later and prepare the surface by spraying some Glysophate, returning in three weeks to rotary hoe, level out and sow some expensive couch seed, while watering just enough to not wash the delicate seed away to the nearest drain.
We would continue to water for about a week, using over 150,000 litres of water, but it wouldn’t stop there. Irrigation would still be required for the next eight to 12 weeks in order to continue the progress of the warm season grass, along with applications of fertilizers. If turf managers decide to incorporate vegetative methods, they traditionally went about it one of five ways;
1. Prepare the surface as stated before and spread 10 -15 cubic meters of sprigs to a hectare and lightly roll into the fluffy soil and then top dress with about 100cubic meters of soil over the top. Arc up the irrigation and apply about 150,000 litres of water per hectare for the next week or so.
2. Prepare the surface as stated above and hire a company to come in with a Sprig line planter that can plant the 10 cubic meters of harvested sprigs into the surface. Arc up the irrigation and apply about 150,000 liters of water per hectare for the next week or so.
3. Prepare a one hectare surface as stated before and hire a company to come in with a sprig line planter to plant 600 meters of warm season grass sods.Arc up the irrigation and apply about 150,000 liters of water per hectare for the next week or so.
4. Use the last method without the surface preparation. Yes straight into the existing surface. Arc up the irrigation and apply about 150,000 liters of water per hectare for the next week or so.
5. Prepare the surface as stated before and lay 10,000 meters of established warm season grass sods. Arc up the irrigation system and apply about 150,000 litres of water per hectare for the next week or so.
Each of these methods require a minimum of 1,000,000 litres (1 Meg) of irrigated water applied to each hectare for the establishment. These water quantities are a rough guide only - the amount of wind and its’ strength - and days above 25 degress will force the use of more water. |
In the state of Victoria, we are in stage 3a water restrictions. The possibility of being able to get a million liters of water for every hectare of new grass is un-realistic. On top of that, the sports grounds we are placing the warm season grasses on will not be able to tolerate the continuation of sport played on it at the same time. As a result, I would like to introduce an alternative to the standard operating procedure.
In June 2007 I employed a contractor to harvest some Kikuyu sprigs from Batesford reserve in Homesglen, Victoria. He blended these with some couch grass and line planted the combination of sprigs into a soccer field that didn’t have an irrigation system. The soccer field is a clay sandy loam field with about 3mm per hour water penetration. The field was rolled and consolidated back into shape and has had soccer continually played on it since. During that time we had three frosts and quite a bit of rain.
Believe it or not, by incorporating this type of planting in the winter, I have not yet used one litre of water.
The rain water had penetrated the compacted soil through the slits made by the machine and the grass is slow to grow in the leaf area but the roots are still very active. This method can be used in both cool season established surfaces or in the nude areas that some sports fields have at the moment due to no grass cover and a winter season of sport played on it.
I suggest that we begin installing our new warm season line plantings during winter in order to take the full advantage of the available rain water. With the sprigs inserted in the soil now, the evaporation is minimal and the water is free. When the soil warms, the grasses start to grow, with no need to irrigate, as the natural rain fall should suffice.
This method can be used in areas that have no irrigation systems, such as low grade fields like school yards, and it is almost guaranteed that in two years time they will not be considered to be low grade fields.
The drought is forcing all Australians to stop and take a look at how to do things differently. This is just one example of that. Do you have a story of how you manage your turf in an uncharacteristic manner? Why don’t you share your experience with other readers so they to can improve their turf? Contact Golf and Sports Turf Magazine at sarah@glenv.com.au and we will feature your story in an upcoming issue.
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